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While in Barcelona I had a day trip out to Montserrat. It is just over an hour out of Barcelona by coach. I got a couple of trains through the subway to the tour centre, before jumping on the tour coach.

A very popular attraction in Barcelona is the Magic Fountain. They are outside the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya – National Art Museum of Catalonia in the avenue running down to the Arenas and the Torres Venecianes.

They generally have a performance 3-4 times a week, depending on the season, and were first shown during the Great Universal Exhibition in 1929.

One of the places I was looking forward to seeing in Barcelona was La Sagrada Familia – one of the biggest basilicas in Barcelona. It’s that one that is still being constructed (stated in the 1800s) that is all lumpy on the outside and has crains all over it. It is a popular sightseeing spot.

The first leg of this trip was quite long, as usual. Canberra to Melbourne, Melbourne to Singapore, Singapore to Dubai, Dubai to Barcelona. Did you know Barcelona is still over 7 hours away from Dubai? I was really hoping for a short 4 hour flight after boarding in Dubai, but no, another seven hours all in daylight. I felt somewhat cheated. I’d already made 2 stops, why wasn’t I in Spain yet?

After Avignon we got back on the road and headed south, towards the coast. The drive was quite easy, there was a lot less traffic than heading into Avignon. We weren’t quite sure where the bird sanctuary was, but we were pretty sure we were on the right road.

Pont in French means bridge or span, we would see a few of them today.

Each morning there would be a new and interesting car parked out the front of the hotel. The Tesla Model X had come down all the way from Norway, I think the Citroën was a little closer to home.

Today we were picking up a rental car for a couple of days to visit some areas outside of Nimes. On the list today was a visit to the museum and replica of Chauvet Cave near Pont d’arc. We had a set time to take a guided tour of the replica cave, so we needed to get our rental car as soon as the place opened.